I know I'm selling what you want... Or am I?

I recently attended a sales training course at a hotel in Hartford .  This workshop provided a usable framework for what I thought I already knew about sales.  The "process" involves lots of questions and reaffirming statements, all to find out what the customer needs.  "Needs" is the important word there.

For years I thought I could walk into a dental practice and see what they "needed".  I could offer solutions to help them be more productive, lower overhead, increase collections, or bring in more patients. I could do all this while making sure they had the supplies they needed (bought from me of course).  I had all the answers!  It is a shame that's not what every practice needs.  Some practices know what they "need" but have other wants that neither they nor I may not even know they "need".  A doctor would say "I want to go digital!"  I would pull my pen out and have them sign within seconds.

Now,  I ask them why they want to "go digital."  Do they need a tax break?  Do they have a budget in mind? Do they want to get rid of film?  Do they want to show their patients how much they care?  The list is endless. If they want to go digital because the government is making them, then I have a different solution than if they want the best diagnosis possible. I cannot offer a good solution unless I know the why behind their "need." 
This approach has its place in almost every situation.  If your patients aren't acceping your treatment plan, then perhaps you haven't discovered their "why."

Technology in medicine

I drove down route 91 north today and noticed a billboard for Mercy Medical Center.  The billboard stated they now had robotic surgery.  Rosie from the Jetsons taking out your spleen? Why would a patient want robotic surgery?  Why advertise this one point?

Is it really robotic surgery that their patients want?  Or do they want the best care money can buy?  Patients, more often than not, equate the best care to the most advanced.  Advanced care means using technology to make the care, less painful, faster, more precise, or more cost effective.  So Mercy Medical Center is telling everyone who drives down 91 that they are using the best and most advanced techniques and equipment for their patient's benefit.

  Patients already see dentistry as an archaic form of torture like in the Little Shop of Horrors. At least we can show them we are using the most up to date technology to torture them. What does your practice say about patient care?